The Sewing Mom

OOPS!! I forgot this one but I think it’s important and it’s something I worked hard to learn how to do so I want to share it.

Using trackbacks is a way to refer back to a site and let them know you are writing about them on your own site. It shows up in their comments and quotes a few lines from your own post and links back to your post. I use Wordpress and so this is the only way I know how to do it. Below the box you type your post in there is a box that says “send trackbacks to” and then a box. This box is where you type where you want your trackback to be sent. There is a very simple explanation of how to type a trackback that I found at Wordpress Help.

To see an example of a trackback in action you can visit My Thoughts to see where my trackback to this post appears.

Getting involved in the blogosphere is not very difficult. Think about it, if you simply post on your own blog every day and do nothing else, how do you think people are going to find your site? Participating and being involved in the blogosphere is a way of getting the word out that you exist, it’s a way of inviting people to come read what you have to say.

So, how do you get involved? One way is to join forums. There are many forums out there, you just have to find one that interests you. A forum is a community of bloggers with similar interests, a place to talk to each other. If you absolutely can’t find an existing forum that interests you, or perhaps you would like to be creative and create your own you can go to WorldCrossing to do just that.

Another very simple and easy way to be involved is to read and comment on other blogs. I have met so many people doing this, including Marcus at Mythoughts who is leading us on our 101 Steps to Better Blogging. When you read a post on another blog that you find interesting, comment! More often than not, the author of that post will then visit your blog to find out more about you. Of course when they come to visit they will more than likely read “about” you, so it’s important to have an interesting About Me page which is covered in Step 5. It’s just like making friends in real life, you start out slow, making introductions and before you know it you have a full blown friendship. In reverse, if someone visits your blog, and especially if they comment, return the visit.

Which forums are you involved in? Get out in the blogosphere and get involved!

We moved from the Chicago area where the kids are returning to school today, it’s hard to believe the summer break is over!  Here in the Dallas area the kids aren’t going back to school until Monday.  My daughter is actually very excited to be going back to school and entering 6th grade.  She’s ready to meet some friends and get back into some activities, including band.  We moved right at the end of the last school year, so she didn’t really have time to meet anyone.  There are two other children on our street, but they are pre-school age so that didn’t work out.  There was a girl and her family that lived behind us who was the same age as my daughter and they hung out up until a few weeks ago when the family moved to Philadelphia, very sad. 

Anyway, we have done most of the back to school shopping, a few new clothes (it’s too hot to buy long sleeves & denim right now) and most of the school supplies.  Today we plan on going to the music store to buy her supplies for band.  She all ready has her instrument, we brought it with us from Illinois, but she needs a metronome and a few other things.   We might try to hit Office Depot to find a new binder, she didn’t care for the ones at Target.  Then we’ll be done and can enjoy the last few days of summer vacation. 

Have your kids started school yet?

I only have a few hours left to enjoy myself and do my own thing before my husband and daughter arrive.  I just got off the phone with them and they are at the airport in Los Angeles waiting to board their flight.  I decided this morning to do my best to be productive, so after having my morning coffee and taking care of the puppy, I headed out to mow the lawn.  I usually do mow the back yard myself on our riding mower, but we use a regular push mower for the front lawn, makes it look nicer. 

I decided to mow the front lawn first since it would take the most physical effort.  It ticks me off though that the electric start on our brand new Craftsmen lawnmower quit working.  I even plugged it in for 4 days to recharge it to make sure that wasn’t the problem.  Luckily I was able to get it started with the pull cord, after I remembered to push the primer button.  I’d say it took me about 45 minutes to do the front after which I came in the house to down a bottle of water.  Then I restarted the mower and went around the outer edge of the backyard and mowed in all the tight spaces around the patio and swingset.   After that I got the riding mower out and did the rest of the backyard.  In total, I probably spent an hour and a half mowing.  I didn’t think that was too bad considering it usually takes my husband almost that long just to do the front yard!  Plus, I didn’t seem to get too much of the cuttings into the flower beds which is a problem my husband has.

After mowing I cleaned the swimming pool and then both me and the puppy got in!  Last week the water is a balmy 96 but we’ve had some cooler evenings the last few nights, so the water temp is a more reasonable 84, very enjoyable.   I’m spending the afternoon relaxing before I have to drive in rush hour traffic to DFW airport.   Watching an old movie and sitting here on my laptop, that’s the life!

I am enjoying my last night alone as my daughter and husband come home from California tomorrow night.  It’s not that I’ve done anything spectacular, it’s just that I’ve really enjoyed some downtime from everything.  I haven’t had to cook, I’ve been eating leftovers and I haven’t had to do the continual clean up.  I straightened up the house the day they left and surprise! it stayed straightened.   I was actually able to have a friend come over & visit and it was just so relaxing to be able to sit around and just talk.  I can’t remember the last time I’ve done that, I felt human again.  I also allowed myself to go shopping today, for me!  Something else I rarely do.  It was nothing exciting, just shopping for a new bra, but it’s hard to do that when you’re with your kids.  I met my friend today at the mall and I actually went to Victoria’s Secret to get fitted and buy a new bra.  They weren’t even on sale, a total splurge for me!  I was in desperate need so I told myself to get something that fit and was comfortable, no matter if it was on sale or not.  I would’ve purchased more than one had they been on sale, but one is a good start.  I’ll wait until they have their next sale and go back.  I know exactly what I want now so I won’t have to try anything on, makes it easier.

The only other living being I had to take care of the last three days was our puppy Plinko.  Amazingly, even she seems more relaxed, if that’s possible.  She’s been so good and her potty training has vastly improved.  She has only had once small accident in the house each of the last 3 days.  She didn’t even have an accident in her crate this afternoon while I was out shopping, I was so happy!

Since this is my last quiet evening, I’m going to go read, in peace. 

We completed day one of puppy training at PetSmart.  I was surprised that there were only 2 other puppies in class besides Plinko.  One was a chiwawa named Spike and the other was a beagle named Lacy.  They were both very cute (well, as cute as a chiwawa can get) and to my surprise, Plinko was the biggest dog in class!  She looked huge compared to the other two.  Plinko was also the most sociable one in class.  She kept going across and visiting with the other dogs and the other humans.  It was very funny!  So the first class consisted of learning how to train with a cue, in this case, using a clicker.  Me personally, I found the clicker to be very annoying, and I’m still not sure if I’m going to use it.  The reason behind it makes sense, with 3 of us in the house trying to train one dog, all of our voices are different, so a clicker allows for consistency.  However, there is only one clicker, so chances are we won’t all have access to it all the time.  Yep, seems I’m leaning away from using the clicker.  The second item was to train the dog to pay attention to you, the human.  This means that you’re training the dog to  look you in the face when you call their name.  We do have homework, none of which I’ve started yet!  My intention was to start this morning, but I sort of forgot.  As the day has progressed, it’s been a good day as far as potty training goes, so I don’t feel like messing with a good thing.  I’ll get to it before next Saturday’s class, I promise!

I am receiving so much link love today that I felt I should definitely reciprocate. This is a viral link which means if you would like to join in, feel free to do so! Simply copy & paste the link list into a post on your site reviewing my post or linking back to it. Add a link (or more than one) to the begininning of the list and you’re done! My understanding from various bloggers is that while the list does contain a lot of outgoing links, the incoming links will far outweigh this so I am giving it a try. I am choosing to add my sister’s blog for if not for her, I would not be in the blogging world. I’m also adding Marcus who has been great in helping me learn how to be a better blogger. Thanks to Bryan for starting this link list and including me in it and thanks to B. Durant for taking the time to explain to me how to copy the list without having to do it manually!

If you are not all ready on the list, simply copy the list, add yourself to it (and anyone else you’d like to add) and post it on your site. Leave me a comment when you’ve done this and I will add you to my list.

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Under the watchful eye of my Mom who is an avid and excellent quilter, I made my first quilt!  I was actually watching my sister sort through some of her stash in her closet and out popped this baby quilt kit.  It was the cutest fabrics, several different textures which I thought was interesting for a baby since they like to feel different things.  I needed and wanted to make a  quilt for my stepdaughter who’s baby was due in July, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity, something simple & easy.   I had to cut the squares and border from the provided fabric and then stitch them all together.  The pattern did not call for batting which I thought was strange, so I did add batting to the quilt.  I liked this one also because I after stitching everything together I just had to stitch the backing to the front and turn it inside out and it was done!  I machine quilted around each square to keep the batting from shifting.  I think all in all, for my first time out, it turned out fairly well.  I put it in my husbands suitcase yesterday and he took it with him to California to see the new baby.

Well, my first weekend alone in I don’t know how long!  I took my husband and daughter to the airport this afternoon and they’re spending the weekend in California.  I on the other hand opted to stay home with the puppy, my computer and a good book! 

I began my adventure almost immediately upon leaving the airport.  I stopped at a very interesting furniture liquidation store called “The Dump”.  It was a huge warehouse type store that had all sorts of furniture, some was damaged, others were just clearance.  Very interesting, but I didn’t find anything I just had to have.  I am actually looking for a couple of particular items, including a dresser for my daughter.  They had a dresser that was a very close match to her bedroom furniture, but they were out of the mirror that went with it and I know she wants the mirror too (what girl doesn’t!).   By the time I left the store the traffic had died down and so it was a pretty quick trip home.  I did stop at Sonic and got a burger & tater tots before going on home to the dog.

Spent the evening with the puppy, except for peeing in the kitchen once (right after I’d brought her back in the house), she had a pretty good night.  She’s asleep in her crate now and I’m going off to do some reading, in peace & quiet. 

Our little puggle puppy Plinko is growing so much.  She’s getting so much taller, I think she’s twice as tall as she was when we brought her home 3 1/2 weeks ago.    I think she will double her current size before she’s fully mature.  She is absolutely crazy too!  She follows us everywhere, we have to make sure all doors are closed and hallways blocked off.  She’s very fast, so if you see her in one spot and look away, she’s probably moved by the time you look back.  This is cute, except for when you’re trying to relax, you have to keep a constant eye on her.   I bought a new memory card at Best Buy today so I was able to take some updated pictures.  She doesn’t hold still unless she’s sleeping, so these were a little tough to capture. 

This picture is bad but it totally captured Plinko running directly at me as fast as she can (see her ears flying in the wind!).  She then leaps onto me, so if you’re not paying attention, she’ll take you out!!